Mountain of Madness
by FloodFeSTeR
Summary: Big Mountain Research Center: a pinnacle of human evolution, a shining monument to intelligence and the gateway to a new, smarter world. Also, home to horrors and the gateway to hell.
1. Chapter 1

**12/18/13 – 5:22 a.m.**

_I love Big MT._

_Need I say more really? After I got done with the main plot of New Vegas I decided to hit level fifty and then go on a rampage through the add-on's. I hit Honest Hearts first, that was fun and interesting, the Vault 22 survivors camp in there creeped me out because they ended up EATING the Mexicans. Second I hit Lonesome Road, and that scared the ever living shit out of me. I have never jumped so much in my life, but to be honest I think it lacked details on the backgrounds of half of the places you visited, I even looked them all up on the Fallout Wiki and it was rather dull in the details, but that just gives you room to make up your own plot line pretty much. Third I hit Dirty Money and had my mind blown with the thrills and battles along with the dark secrets behind the casino and the villa, but again I think it lacked things like holotapes from the poor residents that got used as experiments for The Cloud and I was also disappointed to not find anything mentioning the bombs, those tapes are always fun like the Keller Family Tapes. _

_And then I hit Old World Blues, and I fell in love. There are almost too many reasons to say why I love Big MT. A few things are the horrible experiments, the dark secrets and the monsters they made. Plus the penis toe thing, who doesn't find that funny? So I decided to make a story out of it, and thanks to coduss I have a perfect character for the main character instead of the drunken partner we all love. I think he fits in here perfectly, as a human this time instead of a ghoul._

_I hope you all enjoy this as much as Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell, though I don't have too many reviews I have simply a ton of people viewing it and that pleases me so much. I know I'm rambling now, but a few things you must know: I cannot update a lot, same with all of my other stories, but I will update with two decent sized chapters in this story because of all of the ideas I have for this I won't be able to stop working on it. If anyone is interested check out my other stories, most are Walking Dead. Oh and a fun game, Alexander says something in the next few lines, can you guess which anime it is from? Anyone?_

* * *

"Big Mountain Research Center?"

General Retslaf looked up from under his brow, eyes flickering around to the faces of me and my men, then he sighed, setting his pen down and he leaned back in his chair. "Yes, you will be shipped off first thing in the morning via Vertibird and arrive within in an hour."

"What the hell are we going to do there?" Michael, the interrogator of our small outfit, stepped to my side.

Retslaf looked to him and sighed. "I was not giving many details, the letter listed interrogation, escorts and night guards. That was all I was told, they command an outfit and I gave them you all, my best and brightest."

"You are an asshole, Retslaf," Jim, aka 'Fucking Poindexter' muttered behind me.

I sighed and raised a hand, laying the letter in front of the general. "You know what they do to people there right, Martin?"

He waved a hand at me and picked his pen up once again. "Those are merely rumors, Alexander, now you and your squad get some rest, you are leaving at dawn."

I sighed and turned my back to him, leading my men out of the General's office. I stared briefly at the large missile being constructed by the zooming eyebots, and began walking through the silo towards Hopeville.

"How can he just volunteer us like that?"

I sighed. "Michael, he is our superior, he can do what he wishes with us. We're not friends, we're dogs of the military and nothing more."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it, and you are just so damn passive today Alex what's wrong with you?"

I squinted my eyes at the sunlight as we stepped out of the silo and then sighed as the rest of my men shambled ahead of Michael and I towards the curved top housing lined up for us. "I'm just trying to keep from getting discharged alright? I've already done enough shit to screw up my gig here…this is all I have left, even if it is shit."

Michael sighed. "You're my best friend Alex…I don't want to see you so down. Maybe you need a beer."

I chuckled and started walking with Michael towards the center of this small town.. "Tryin ta make an alcoholic of me lad?"

He laughed a loud laugh and threw an arm over my shoulders, which was a feat for him because of our height differences. Michael was the smallest man in our outfit, a good 5'2" while everyone else stood close to six feet. Hopeville had me feeling mixed emotions. Before General Retslaf was stationed here with his platoon it was a quiet, close knit business community. A lot of lawyers offices, construction companies and what the women call boutiques. Never visited one, never want to. So frilly. But since this whole platoon got shipped here, the residents have gotten slightly violent. I have been woken up on several occasions by wannabe vigilante's coming into our camp and vandalizing the trucks or trying to get into our supplies storage. I don't like to man handle women, but I have no choice when they're coming at me with weapons. I actually saw Retslaf order two of his men to gun down a group of civilians the other day, he claimed they were trying to break into the silo. Which of course is a big problem and if they had gotten past the door drastic measures should have to be taken, but to shoot them down so coldly…

"Alex!"

I blinked and looked up at a group of smiling faces, and my smile returned. The name of the bar, Third Outfit of the Potomac. I never saw a sad face in this bar, never seen a brawl inside of its walls or had to tell someone to shut the fuck up. It's an oasis in the middle of this hell hole we call a camp.

"Hey guys," I cheered, maneuvering through the afternoon crowd to get to the bar. "Give me one of those whiskeys you got back there, lad."

The new bartender, a flustered teenager, spun on her heel and grabbed the whiskey, all but throwing it at me as she whipped around. I raised a brow but said nothing, sitting with my back to the bar on one of the creaking stools. Michael nodded at the young bartender and sat beside me, a beer bottle in his hand. He tilted his head back and took a long swallow while I all but nursed my whiskey like it was a bottle.

"Slow down Alex, we got all night."

I shook my head and lowered my bottle. "No we don't….we leave first thing in the morning. After this I'll be lucky to get any fucking sleep."

"C'mon, where's that old Irish charm and resilience I've come to know?"

I chuckled and lifted my head up. "I know….I shouldn't be acting this way, but I just got back from recon and I was looking forward to spending a couple of weeks doing measly patrols and guard duty."

"This will be measly guard duty," Michael rested his left arm on my shoulder and leaned towards me. "All we're doing is making sure some chemicals don't spill and the scientists get to bed on time. Don't worry so much."

I sighed and took a slow sip of whiskey. "You ever heard anything from Big Mountain?"

He shook his head. "No, but I have heard the name. I have a cousin, you remember Miriam?" I nodded. "Yeah, she worked there for a couple of months helping with their cyber dog training and stuff like that."

I sighed. "The things I have heard from Big Mountain…they're not good people, lad. They take people they pick at random and use their brains in those Robobrains, ever wonder where they got that shit from? Think someone just volunteered to have that done to them?"

Michael sighed and leaned back against the bar. "Alex your being over analytical again."

He was right. I had gotten this way on a few occasions and ruined the moment for everyone else. I shook my head and took another sip of my whiskey. "Your right, you right. I'm sorry, I'm just worried for all of you is all."

"Well don't be Alex," he pat me on my back. "We're big boys, with big guns and big egos. We can handle this."

I laughed at that. "I know you guys can," I leaned back against the bar and a hard swallow of the whiskey, cringing as it hit the back of my throat. "I wonder what's it's really like in Big Mountain…"

"Miriam said it was just a big ass mountain riddled with tunnels and buildings inside of natural cavities. She said it was amazing, she said the doctors were amazing. Too smart for their own good, and she said there was this one doctor with a cyber dog named Gabriel. She said he was taller than her, the dog I mean."

"Are you fucking serious?" I muttered, digging in my left pocket.

He nodded and smiled then waved at one of the female soldiers that entered the bar. "Yeah, said it was because of all of the legal and illegal drugs the scientist had fed his mutt. Poor dog, I can't help but think of Cerberus when I hear that stuff."

I nodded. Cerberus was the best damn search and rescue dog we had, plus he did combat with us sometimes. He was trained well, and was ironically going to go through the operation that would make him into a cyber dog soon.

"Hey, maybe we can take Cerberus with us to Big Mountain."

Michael looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Aaaaand why would we do that?"

"He was going through that thing to become a cyber dog right?" Michael nodded slowly, the mouth of his beer against his lips. "Well, we could take him there to get the stuff done, and we could have him with us all at the same time."

Michael sort of smiled at that. Nothing like the bond between a man and his dog, of course I wouldn't know. He smiled widely at me and pat my shoulder. "You can be smart when you want to be."

My face went blank, obviously scaring Michael for a moment, before I chuckled. "You're an asshole, Michael."

**0000**

"Get your ass up soldier! You have fifteen minutes to gather your belonging, get outfitted and get your grunt ass on that Vertibird!"

I groaned into my pillow and rolled my head to the left, seeing Fucking Poindexter stretching and groaning on his bunk. "Does he have to be a stereotype?" I muttered.

Fucking Poindexter shrugged and pushed himself to his feet. "Whatever gives him a hard on I guess."

I chuckled and rolled out of my bunk. I had already slept in my uniform, not from readiness but from being passed out drunk, and the only things I had were still packed away in my bag so I grabbed it up from its spot under my bunk and huffed it over my shoulder. It was still dark outside, the sun beginning to turn the clouds a deep violet as it tried to raise through the skyscrapers in the distance. I looked over my shoulder when I heard a loud bark and smiled at Cerberus, who was still fitted with his bullet proof vest.

I crouched down and scratched him behind his left ear. "You ready boy?"

He barked again and loped towards the Vertibird I saw waiting for us. I took in a deep breath and started towards it myself, seeing Michael ripping and raring to go by ordering around a few of the lower ranking soldiers. I chuckled as I joined him at his side, all he did was grin and watch the recruits run around all flustered.

"You really are an asshole Michael."

"I try," he looked over at me. "You ready for this?"

I nodded and bumped my knuckles against his. "Hell yeah, positive Alex is back."

Michael laughed and I passed him to get onto the Vertibird, sitting between Fucking Poindexter and Nicholas, our medic in training. He offered me his flask and I shook my head. I didn't need to be drinking when we were getting into this mess so early, and that was saying something for me. I eyed the infinity symbol carved into it for a moment but said nothing. Nicholas was a weird bird, I never questioned anything he did for fear of my own life.

"Alright, let's take 'er up," Michael announced, jumping into the Vertibird and slamming the door closed.

The Vertibird gave a jerk as it lifted from the ground and Michael slid down into the passenger's seat of the cockpit, adjusting his headphones as he talked to the pilot. I smiled as Cerberus nudged my right knee with his nose, I lifted my hand and rested it on the top of his head and he rested it on my knee, licking his chops before he closed his eyes. I wish I was a fucking dog, he could just close his eyes and he was out like that, on his feet even.

I looked up when someone knocked on my shoulder and saw Nicholas pointing at the cockpit. I looked over at Michael and saw him pointing at something above me. I grabbed the set of headphones dangling above my head and slid them over my head, clicking them on. I flinched at the static and then sighed when it settled.

"_Hey, did Retslaf say where we had to go when we got there? I called in this morning and no one said anything about us getting an escort."_

My brow furrowed. "_No, he didn't say anything about any of that."_

"_So we're fucking going in blind?"_

"_Guess so,"_ I sighed.

Michael groaned and thumped his head back against the head rest of his seat. I chuckled but didn't take off the head phones in case he decided to talk to me again. So we didn't have an escort, or they just weren't telling us right now, which made no sense, but these were a bunch of egg heads and I never liked people like this. They always thought they were better than everyone just because they were slightly smarter. Whatever. I was just concerned about how long it would take us to get there, I never liked flying. Too many things could go wrong and we couldn't just stop mid air to fix anything wrong. Didn't Retslaf say an hour after we left the base? Yeah, he did. So I had an hour in the air, stuffed in here like sardines with sweaty men and a dog. Oh joy.

* * *

_I know its short, and Big MT hasn't shown up yet, but it will be there in the next chapter. Of course it will, if it wasn't I would hate me. Ok, that makes no sense._


	2. Chapter 2

_**10:08 p.m. – 1/21/14**_

_I meant to get this out the last time I was on (__**1/17/14**__) but I don't know what happened. I think I just forgot somehow. Anyway, I hope this is good, from the amount of views I have gotten its good but R&R please. Helps a lot. And I know Mobius changed all of their names to make them forget or whatever, but I don't want to go through the process of giving them new names and trying to keep up with who is really who, so their names are staying as they are in Old World Blues._

* * *

"Yo Alex! Get your ass up."

I blinked my eyes open and immediately yawned, throwing my arms out to stretch away the tiredness in me. I heard a grunt when my knuckles hit something and saw Fucking Poindexter there, my fist right against his nose.

"Oh shit, sorry man," I yawned, lowering my arms.

He grumbled. "It's fine, really."

"No it isn't, you're a horrible liar."

He grumbled again and grabbed his bag from under his seat while I grabbed mine, and we filed off of the Vertibird, me squinting at the harsh rays of the sun. I looked around at the bright red desert sand, scratching my head before I saw our destination. I giant fucking mountain. Well, that shouldn't be a big surprise, it _was_ called Big Mountain for a reason I guess. I stared at the giant thing in complete awe, not hearing Michael calling my name repeatedly through the speaker system of the monorail platform a few feet to my left.

I blinked out of reverie and finally turned my attention to my squad. "What?"

Michael rolled his eyes at me. "Get your ass on the train, we don't have all day. We're already late as it is."

I climbed up the platform and entered the train car, seeing Cerberus getting settled on one of the seats. "Why didn't we just fly in the Vertibird all the way there?"

"And where would we land," Michael asked, sliding the door to the train car closed. "It's a mountain, not a building, this is our landing zone."

I rubbed my face and sat beside Fuckin Poindexter. "Didn't they say that this place was underground?"

He nodded, and then paused. "Well, some of its underground, some of its actually inside the mountain. They found a whole tunnel system through this place while they were excavating."

I opened my mouth to speak but was cut off by my body being almost thrown into his. He pushed me off of him and we both glared at Michael, who was laughing at us while we gathered ourselves. "Jackass," I muttered, adjusting my pack in my lap.

"My thoughts exactly," Fuckin Poindexter nodded, trying to find his place in the book he had been reading. "Would have liked a warning, or something like that before the damn monorail started.

"But it was too funny to pass up," Michael snickered, falling into the seat beside me.

I rolled my eyes and then smiled. "I know I would laugh at it too if I were you."

Michael chuckled and clapped his hand on my back. "I know you would."

I sighed and settled back into the seat, staring across at the window, seeing the orange sand and hills flying past. "They sure picked out a good location for this place. How far are we from the base?"

Michael sighed. "I don't even want to think about it."

I grumbled a little. "I just want to get some sleep."

Michael chuckled. "You and Milton slept the entire flight out here, why the hell would you need anymore sleep?"

I opened my mouth to speak but my words died as we were literally _engulfed _by darkness. I tried to squint through the darkness but that was all I saw. After a few minutes dim amber lights flickered on along the ceiling and we all looked between each other, even Cerberus was looking around. I stood and wobbled a bit as the monorail rocketed across its tracks, and made it to the other side of the train car. My mouth gaped a little as I saw what could only be the research center.

"Holy shit, guys come look at this."

My men crowded around me, silent for once. It was like a dome inside the mountain, but it wasn't so perfectly rounded. There was an actual _dome_ with blue lights shooting up from four 'corners' of it, bathing the rest of the facility in the blue light. I could see faint dots of workers moving around, a few construction robots ambling about beside a crane. I jumped back as everything disappeared. We were moving through a tight tunnel again. Everyone moved back to their seats, brows scrunched in confusion I guess, while I just grinned like an idiot.

"Maybe I was wrong about this place," I kept that grin on my face as I spoke.

Fuckin Poindexter snorted at me, glaring over the edge of his book. "Wasn't it you that was preaching about the horrible things they did here?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but…" I looked over my shoulder as we were bathed in red light coming from an additional dome. "Do you fuckin see this place lad?" I looked back over at him. "It's amazing."

Michael shook his head. "Shut up Alex."

We all grunted as the monorail came to a jerky stop, sliding in our seats slightly while Cerberus tumbled out of his. He stood on wobbly legs, looking around the cabin before he barked and shook his fur, jogging over to me. I pat his head as I stood, grabbing my bag in the process. The doors slid open with a ding and I approached them, pausing when I saw a young woman waiting outside the door.

She was tall, almost as tall as I was, and she wore a tight leather suit, almost identical to one of those stealth suits the Chinese wore, only something seemed different about it. She had surgical scars going across her head and the backs of her hands, which I found very odd. But I said nothing, just smiled and bowed my head slightly in greeting.

She smiled and did the same. "Hello, my name is Minerva. I will be your escort to the Think Tank to meet our employer's."

"What do you do here," I asked, walking at her side.

She peered at me from the corner of her eye, not looking amused but not seeming aggravated either. She sighed a little and looked forward again, through the tunnel we were heading down. "I escort, like I am doing now. I train the military personnel, and I will train you, how to deal with some of the _unusual _calls and situations you will most likely get into here in Big Mountain. I also set up the courses for our stealth suit testing and I help with the other experiments every once in a while," she held her right arm out to the side, stopping me, and stopping the rest of my team. She took a small breath and looked up at me. "I hate having to say this because it seems stupid and dramatic, but it's something that needs to be said. This is not a vacation, this is not a playground. No matter how cool the toys seem and how strange the buildings are this is a serious job and if any one of you acts up the whole squad will be stationed here for the rest of your lives, do I make myself clear?"

"I'm scared," Milton muttered from Fuckin Poindexter's side.

"You should be," Minerva grunted. She let her arm drop back to her side and we started walking again. "Now I have to tell you that the people that work here, meaning the scientist and a few botanists, are very…_eccentric_. They are loud and hyper, like teenagers. They even sneak out of their houses in the middle of the night when they're supposed to be asleep."

"There are houses here," Milton asked. "Normal houses?"

Minerva nodded. "Yes, the compound is called Higgs Village, it's in the very back of the mountain. It's a normal little home for the scientists of the Think Tank. The other workers either spend their nights working on their experiments or they bunk in the Red Dome. Stupid name, but it fits it in more way than one. Anyway, welcome to Big Mountain Research Center."

We exited the tunnel, instantly assaulted by bright lights and a million sounds. The blue lit dome stared at us across the way, between us were construction drones, half built buildings and a saw brightly lit ones. I smiled at the Cyber-dogs I saw following around their masters. Some were police issued, some were military issued, both loud and happy. Minerva smiled at Cerberus, who had jogged a few feet ahead of us, as if he knew what we had planned for him.

"Is he yours?"

I looked down at Minerva. "He's the squads," I looked back up at Cerberus. He was pacing back and forth in his spot, barking. "He's getting the operation to become a cyber-dog sometime during his stay here."

"It's not a difficult procedure, I can get him a schedule tonight and he can be in the operating room sometime next week."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Friendly with the dogs?"

She nodded and gestured for us to follow her. "The dogs are the only things that I don't have to constantly get onto around here. They listen, they're quiet when I order them to be."

"You train them?" Fuckin Poindexter stepped to her other side.

She shook her head and smiled at one of the military personnel watching over the construction site. "No. Dr. Borous and his team train the dogs. I just kennel them at night and make sure they are treated properly."

"And what about this giant dog named Gabe I heard about," Michael muttered.

Minerva froze in place, just on the edge of the blue dome. After a few minutes she sighed and looked over her shoulder at Michael. "Gabe is not my jurisdiction, my responsibility. He is government property. They can do what they want to with him. I feel deeply sorry for the dog, but there is nothing I can do."

"Whatever," he muttered.

I sighed and nudged Minerva with my elbow. "Come on, let's meet these egg heads of yours."

She sighed and nodded, starting to walk again. "We are going to the top, into the Think Tank. Be quiet, don't ask a lot of questions and pretty much go along with whatever they say."

We all nodded and followed behind her into the dome, through an automatic door labeled Think Tank. I guess we were in the lobby, seeing as there was a large circular desk taking up most of the space with several frazzled receptionists in pressed white dresses typing away on computers. There were men and women walking around in lab coats, talking and laughing, discussing plans for a stealth suit and the Cyber-dog program. One man was at the receptionists desk, waving his hands around wildly and talking about some robo-scorpion. Minerva smiled a little and approached the man, placing a small hand on his left shoulder. He jumped and whipped around to her, his glasses falling onto the floor. I darted down and grabbed them, holding them out to him.

"Here," I smiled.

He smiled hesitantly, as if he didn't really know what to do, and took the glasses from me quickly, sliding them onto his nose. "Th-thank you," he looked down at Minerva. "Who are y-your guests Minnie?"

"Minnie?" Milton snorted behind me.

Minerva glared over her shoulder and then smiled at the man. "They are the new guards we have from Hopeville. In fact, they'll be helping you with the project in the Red Dome after they get settled in," she smiled back at us, rubbing his arm a little. "Men, this is Dr. Mobius. He does the research with force fields and our new products, the robo-scorpions. You will help him with our newest invention t-"

"Oh please Minnie I want it to be a surprise!"

Minerva chuckled and looked back up at him. "Alright, alright. We need to get up to the Think Tank anyway. Are they all up there?"

Mobius nodded. "All except for me of course. I won't be joining you though, seeing as we have just met fully and I am needed at the facility. Good bye."

We all watched him literally _run_ out of the lobby then I looked down at Minerva. She looked up at me. "What?"

I shrugged. "Nothing, let's go."

She nodded and we all walked over to the elevators. It was quiet in the elevator, save for Cerberus' panting. I reached down and scratched the crown of his furry head, receiving a smelly lick to my hand. I grimaced then smiled, wiping my hand off on my pants. I pat his head again, swiping my hand away before he could land a lick. Milton pushed me out of the elevator when the door opened, and I reciprocated by tripping him when he came out. We just laughed at him instead of helping him up, Minerva standing off to the side with a small smile on her lips. I grinned and nudged her with my elbow.

"There ya go, smiling and shit."

She chuckled a little, then frowned as a loud bang echoed from the hallway to our left. We all looked to the hallway, hearing a few voices bickering amongst each other then another bang echoed through the room. Minerva sighed and pushed me out of the doorway, looking me over then the rest of us. She wiped some of the drool off of Cerberus' whiskers before she stood straight and nodded in satisfaction.

"Do we look ok Mom?" Michael asked in a whiney voice.

She waved a hand. "Shut up, you have to look presentable to these people. They'll mock you in the worst ways and make your time here pure hell. Trust me. Anyway, since none of you are as young as the others they shouldn't mess with you at all."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Fuckin Poindexter stepped up to my side, looking bored.

"The other military personnel we have around here are in there twenties. Military or not they are still young and goof off, don't pay attention on the job and they aren't as worldly yet. You all look about the right age and have the smarts apparently to act like normal human beings and be quiet when you're supposed to. When we introduced the staff to them they were complete jackasses so I stationed them in the Z-9 Crotalus DNA Preservation Lab. And trust me, that is not the most desirable job around here…anyway, just look sharp alright? After this you can relax and we will get you set up somewhere."

I nodded and we filed behind her towards the hallway. The floor and walls were lit with blue, making it sort of hard to see, but it also made it feel like some sci-fi movie, like one of those old television programs that they played on Saturday mornings. The team was unusually quiet, maybe they were feeling the same tension as I was. I was excited in a way, still scared and cautious of this place, but it's not every day you get to meet the smartest people of our time.

It also isn't everyday that you almost get hit in the head with a clipboard. I scrambled to the left, nearly taking Michael down to the ground, and looked around wildly. There was a woman in a lab coat across the room, her red hair in a messy bun and sleepless bags under her eyes. She noticed us and her mouth popped into an O and she began to try to straighten her lab coat then her messy hair.

"I am so so sorry," she jogged over to us, heels clicking loudly through the dome. "I meant to hit Klein."

And that made it better?

"It's uh," I waved a hand at her. "It's ok, really."

She smiled a little and held her right hand out. "Hello, my name is Dala. What a rude greeting."

I took her hand. "Nice to meet you, Dala. My name is Alexander Anderson. Call me Alex please."

She tucked a strand of hair behind her left ear and opened her mouth to speak, but another voice cut in. "Oh Dala, don't bother the guest with your words."

Dala glared past me. "Shut up Klein."

A man maneuvered his way between Minerva and I, his hair a disheveled mess the color strangely blue. What the hell? He stuck out his right hand and grinned in a weird way, like he was trying to copy movie stars smile. "Hi, I'm Klein. You've met our nuisance Dala."

"Shut up Klein," Dala said indignantly again. She turned around towards a stair case that was at the far left side of the dome. "Borous! Klein won't leave me alone!"

"Klein what did I tell y- oh, I see we have guests."

The man looked strange, I guess that was the only way to put it. He made Cerberus growl, but a tap on the nose fixed that and he was back to panting at Michael's side. The man, Borous, was tall – above six feet – and his right arm under his lab coat looked like it had whelps tightening the fabric against it. His eyes were a bright green and his hair was an odd shade of red. He stepped down the platform where there were a whole mess of terminals and machine's and approached us warily.

"And who are these people?"

Dala smiled and held onto his strange looking arm. "Borous sweet heart these are the new guards," she looked over at Minerva. "I'm right aren't I?"

Minerva nodded, her face stern. "You're right Dala, but I am not focused on them anymore, I am focused on you and Klein's behavior. You two are going to have to calm down and come to some kind of agreement or I am going to have to have you separated."

Dala's face turned to one of horror. "You wouldn't make me leave my Borous would you?!"

Minerva crossed her arms over her chest. "Yes, Dala, I would. Even if you didn't almost injure our guests, I would not be happy right now. Come to an agreement, or one of you will leave."

Dala sighed and nodded, while Klein turned up his nose and Borous just looked amused, yet bored. I looked back to the team and they looked just as confused as me. Michael looked over at me an shrugged, his brow furrowing. I stepped back to him while Minerva scolded the scientists.

"They act like teenagers," I muttered into his ear.

"Didn't Minerva say that earlier?"

I nodded. "But she seems to be the one in charge. This is just a little too weird for me."

"What the hell did Retslaf get us into exactly," Milton asked.

"They act like Poindexter," Michael and I said at the same time.

"Oh stuff it Anderson," Poindexter muttered.

"Hey what about Michael?"

Poindexter looked at me over his glasses. "I like him more."

Michael snickered. "Burn bitch."

"Excuse me soldiers, but might you tell us what is so funny?"

My back snapped straight and I looked down at Minerva. "Sorry, Poi – I mean Jim was getting onto us."

She raised a brow. "Well, if you are all done with that," she turned around to the scientists. "All of you get to your places, I would like to introduce you all to your new guards."

I watched two scientists come from the top balcony and take their place alongside Klein, Dala and Borous on the platform in front of us. Dala was the only one smiling, the others were deadly serious, if not a little aggravated looking. Minerva gestured for us to come forward and we did so, feeling a little reluctant about it. Or maybe that was just me. Minerva held her hands in front of her as she stood to my right.

"Think Tank, Squad 4-9. Alexander Anderson, Michael Freeman, Jim McCoy, Milton Estravac and Nicholas Corin."

Klein raised an eyebrow. "Nicholas…I have not heard you speak."

I took a small step forward. "Nicholas can't speak."

"So they gave us the misfits," he grumbled. "This was why I wanted to go pick them out myself."

"They're not toys, Klein," Minerva scolded. She looked over at me. "Why can't he speak, Alexander?"

I looked over at Nicholas, who was looking down. I had…honestly forgotten that he was here with us. I sighed and looked back over at Minerva. "Torture…he was captured in the Yangtze Campaign and tortured. After we got him back…he stopped speaking."

"Oh," she looked down. "Well…maybe we can fix that. There is a reason we are the most advanced research station in the world. We'll see what the problem is and if he wants, we can get him talking again."

I smiled a little. "Thanks," I looked over at Nicholas. "What do you think man? I know you can hear."

He looked up and gave me a half smile. I smiled wider then looked back to the doctors, who weren't really paying attention to us. They were back to bickering amongst themselves. Minerva sighed and waved us away towards the hall we had come through.

"I feel like their children sometimes…"

"They act like it, are you sure they're actually smart? Maybe they just have people doing all of the work for them," Michael muttered, stuffing himself into the corner of the elevator.

Minerva shook her head and pressed the down button, staring at the closing doors. "No…no they are very intelligent. They just don't know how to properly interact with humans, or animals. Machines, robots and all that fun stuff? Oh they have a ball and act like their supposed to. But get people near them, they lose their fucking minds. Get animals near them? They want to experiment with their splicing machines and intestines."

I grimaced as the doors opened. "That's gross…are you sure we should trust Cerberus in their hands?"

Cerberus barked behind me and Minerva sighed, stopping us in the center of the lobby. "They may be a little crazy and eccentric…but when it comes to stuff like that, they won't fuck up. They'll take it very seriously. You have nothing to worry about, Borous performs above par cyber-dog operations. Cerberus will be in good hands when we finally get him in there. It will be a week or two before we can actually get him in there but I will try to make it as speedy as possible alright?"

I nodded. "Alright…I trust you on this."

She smiled. "Good…now let's find you some lodging. Maybe you can stay in one of the compounds for the workers…I don't think there is any room left for military personnel…or you guys can come stay with Mobius and I."

I couldn't stop myself from looking around, soaking in everything, as we stepped out of the dome. "Where do you two live?"

We started down the metal staircase we had come up to get here, turning right. "Well, Mobius spends most of his time in the X-42 Research Center, and he has a home in Higgs Village, but I live in the DNA Splicing Lab by the X-8 Research Center, Mobius spends most of his nights there with me. Whenever he decides to take a break anyway."

"You guys married?"

She froze in her spot, making me bump into her, and she looked up at me. "No…no Mobius and I are most definitely _not_ married."

I raised my hands a little at her seriousness. "Alright, sorry I asked."

She looked down for a moment then gave me a half smile. "So where you guys wanna stay?"

I shrugged. "What do you guys think?"

Michael let out a breath. "I would rather stay with someone we know that knows this place. I'm for going to the splicing lab."

"Same here, plus I would like to see some of the handiwork around here from the lab," Poindexter grinned.

Milton shrugged. "I don't really care."

Nicholas shrugged as well, looking between all of us. I nodded and looked down at Minerva. "Guess we can visit until you find a place for us."

She smiled. "Good, I could use some help today anyway."


End file.
